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U.S. Classified Document Leaks; Biden heads to Belfast Tomorrow; White House Vows to Fight Abortion Pill Ruling; Abortion Drug Rulings Create Confusion. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired April 10, 2023 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A significant breach. Key U.S. intelligence documents leaked online, embarrassing friends, emboldening enemies. New developments just in as the Pentagon scrambles to catch the leaker before he or she strikes again.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And the battle over abortion medication may be headed to the Supreme Court after two federal judges issue contradicting rulings and the Biden administration says everything is on the table to protect access.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: A major security operation underway in northern Ireland as police there prepared for President Biden's arrival. CNN is in Belfast as the country prepares to celebrate an important anniversary, the landmark Good Friday Peace Agreement.

We are following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN, NEWS CENTRAL.

BERMAN: Who leaked them? Why were they leaked? How many secrets were lost? These are the key new questions this morning as the Pentagon scrambles to do damage control after highly classified documents surfaced online. CNN has reviewed 53 of these documents. All of them appear to have been produced between mid-February and early March. Some reveal how the U.S. has been eavesdropping on key allies, including South Korea, Israel, Ukraine. A source close to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy tells CNN, Ukraine has already altered some of its military plans because of these leaks.

CNN national security reporter Natasha Bertrand joins us now live from the Pentagon.

Natasha, what are you learning about where these documents came from and how the administration is responding?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: John, it's really remarkable. What we are learning is that these documents first appeared on a social media platform called discard -- Discord at least a month ago. And there are at least 50 of them, which CNN has reviewed, and all of them have classified markings, including some up to the top-secret level, which is the highest level of classification in the U.S. government.

Now, the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the matter based on a referral from the Pentagon, which referred the matter to the Justice Department and the FBI for further investigation on Friday night.

But, look, these documents contain incredibly sensitive information about Ukrainian troop movements, strengths and weaknesses, including weaknesses in their air defenses, as well as really important and new information about just how far the us intelligence community has been able to go in penetrating the Russian defense ministry, as well as the Russian mercenary organization, Wagner Group, which, of course, is also carrying out operations in Ukraine.

Now, we are also learning from these documents that this comes -- this information in these top secret document come from a variety of different agencies across the U.S. government, including the CIA, as well as the Defense Intelligence Agency. And so this really has impacted a lot of different agencies across the government, as well as many of the United States' its closest allies, including Israel and South Korea. A lot of these documents detail U.S. eavesdropping and intercepted communications of these foreign allies talking to each other.

So, obviously, there's going to be some friction here moving forward between the U.S. and allies. They're already, though, talking to those allies and conducting a damage assessment, John, of how this leak may impact national security.

BERMAN: Natasha Bertrand, extraordinary stuff. Thank you so much. Keep us posted.

And, Kate, I have to believe there's a great deal of concern because the leaker could still be out there.

BOLDUAN: That's exactly right. And you're talking about kind of the scope of where this leaked information came from. Let's dig into a little bit more of what is -- what is being revealed in these documents. Many of the leaked documents, as Natasha was talking about, deal with Russia's war on Ukraine, including intelligence on both countries. One secret document from February details the diminishing missile stocks that Ukraine has on hand. It also includes estimated delivery of additional weapons systems and the training plans for Ukrainian soldiers on those systems.

Now, another document shows proposed military strategies for Ukraine, logistics and policy recommendations for the country, for Ukraine.

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Yet another document, and it's marked top secret, it contains information on Russia and Ukrainian battalion sizes and their locations, as well as the level of battlefield casualties being suffered on both sides.

U.S. officials believe that the losses spelled out in this document in particular may have been altered to show fewer Russian casualties than estimated. Other documents show the extent of U.S. spying operations on South Korea and Israel, including with relation to South Korea, a conversation between two senior South Korean national security officials about their concerns over a U.S. request for ammunition that would be sent to Ukraine. Those officials discuss a way to get around the country's policy of not supplying lethal aid to countries at war.

And when it comes to Israel, some of those leaked documents have sparked outrage in the country. Intelligence gathered, allegedly revealing that Israel's own intelligence service, the Mossad, has been encouraging protests against the country's new government. The prime minister's office has already come out and flatly denied that assessment.

Now, joining me -- there's a lot in here, but joining me for much more on this is Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, CNN military analyst.

General, we lay out just some of what is being revealed in these documents. What's most problematic about these leaks from your view?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: What you said just a minute ago, Kate, is most problematic. There's a lot of them and they're across the board. But what also adds to it, it's different than past leaks, which have been, you know, documents like the Snowden leaks, the WikiLeaks, that are documented pieces of paper that tell the story. What these do, and what we've seen some of them do, are perhaps give misdirection or disinformation. They've been redesigned to show different things from the original documents. We know that already.

So, it's a combination of real live data, real live secrets, as Natasha Bertrand said. She said there -- some of them are top secret, but on some of those documents they say top secret no foreign, which means there's no foreign dissemination. That's the marking that's at the top of those. So it's not only the kind of intelligence we collect on foes, but also the kind of intelligence that all nations collect on their friends to. We do this. Other nations do it too. But you don't like it to be put into the public space.

BOLDUAN: You're hitting on something that I wanted to ask you about because if you're - if we're putting it in like perspective, it's one thing if intelligence is leaked, never a good thing, but if intelligence is leaked about a past program or a broader strategy or operation. When - what we're looking at here, and the sense that we're getting, and the reaction to it is, what does it mean when it's in real time, General, when the leak has to do with supply levels and capabilities in an ongoing war?

HERTLING: Yes, again, I'll compare it to the WikiLeaks a couple of years ago that occurred. Those were cables and things that were going between embassies and had long term planning issues. But when you're talking about today, the Russian invasion in Ukraine are intent to support our Ukrainian partners with equipment and with supplies, the battle maps that are happening, you know, within the last week, or the last couple of days, you know, those give real live, close in timely intelligence to an enemy. And that's not good. It's unfortunate that this has happened this way, but it's also

truthfully, Kate, being miss read by many people who don't understand what's in those documents. And I'll say "The New York Times," they did a piece yesterday where they literally put two slides from the joint staff within their article, with no description of what it was. You know, when I read -- when I looked at the two slides, having been on the joint staff once, I knew exactly what it was saying, and it was not saying the same thing that was in the newspaper report. So, you're going to get amateur intel analysts saying things that just aren't true about some of these documents, but that doesn't decrease the fear factor that's involved in these things leaking to the general public.

BOLDUAN: General, real quick, what does the U.S. military need to be doing right now to mitigate the damage from this?

HERTLING: Yes, find who leaked it, first of all. And they've done that by addressing it with the Department of Justice. But there's also some internal looks on how these things could have gotten out. I have some ideas, having worked in the Pentagon, what might have happened, but they also have to do really rapid assessments. Not only the U.S. military, but also militaries around the world, and governments around the world, they have to pull intel analyst off their normal job, which takes them away from what they're -- they would normally be doing and say, hey, what's the damage assessment of these things linking? What could happen because people see what's on these documents or know about the sources and methods? All of those things are important.

BOLDUAN: And all those things are this -- this is all, obviously, happening as we speak.

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General, thank you very, very much.

Sara.

SIDNER: A big week ahead for President Biden. He heads to Ireland and Northern Ireland tomorrow. His first stop is Belfast, where he'll commemorate the 25th anniversary of the signing of a historic peace agreement that helped end decades of violent clashes that killed tens of thousands of people. Police in Northern Ireland have launched a massive security operation amid heightened fears of a potential terrorist attack.

CNN's Nic Robertson is live in Derry with the very latest.

Nic, what is on the president's agenda in Northern Ireland?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well he's going to do ribbon cutting at a new university in the center of Belfast, likely talked there about the importance of the economy, the importance of education. We've been talking to some of the politicians in Belfast and one of them in particular from the Sinn Fein political organization, who's an MP in London, was really commending the president's visit. JOHN FINUCANE, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR BELFAST NORTH: I don't think

we would have had a peace process, or certainly a Good Friday Agreement, without the involvement of the American administration and successive American administrations in implementing our peace. Joe Biden himself has a very strong track record in supporting our peace process. It presents us with an enormous opportunity that we must grasp.

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ROBERTSON: But what's happening here in Derry is something completely different. This is much more about that big police operation. The police say they've got strong intelligence that says a group called the New IRA dissident, a small group of republicans here in Northern Ireland, want to have a big public disorder event. And that is quite literally what's beginning to unfold down the street behind me.

The police are not far away. The police have said that the parade this organization wants to have isn't authorized. We are very aware of what's been happening in the backstreets here. I can tell you, if the police do come in contact with this crowd, it will be a very, very fiery confrontation indeed.

SIDNER: You might want to follow on that.

ROBERTSON: And there have been confrontations here before. Just a little down the street from here, that's where a journalist was shot and killed by this particular organization just a couple of years ago.

Sara.

SIDNER: Yes, 25 years ago things were very different in Ireland, and Northern Ireland. Now that Sinn Fein has quite a bit of popularity. How do you think President Biden will handle this trip? He is known as one of the most Irish presidents that the United States has had.

ROBERTSON: Yes, and that could put him for the -- you know, from the point of view of this pro-British unionists, so loyalists here, in a very dark -- under a dark cloud, if you will. They perceive President Biden as being very pro-Irish, potentially pro-United Ireland. So there are --you will find politicians on that side, the unionist (ph) said, who are not really welcoming President Biden's visit here. And perhaps that's why the visit is a little bit more low profile because there are political as well as real on street tensions here.

SIDNER: Nic Robertson there live for us with great information there in Derry, Northern Ireland.

John, when you consider what happened 25 years ago, and you hear Sinn Fein saying the United States played a major role in this peace accord, it's a really big deal, the president's about -- going back.

BERMAN: It's a huge deal. So much history. And you hope the next chapter is peaceful.

A major post-Roe abortion cases is now teed up for the Supreme Court after two federal judges deliver very different rulings on a popular abortion pill. What the White House is now vowing to do.

Could ousted Tennessee lawmaker Justin Jones soon get his job back? A vote is happening today.

And outrage after a disturbing incident involving a child in the Dalai Lama. The spiritual leader is now apologizing.

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BERMAN: On the radar this morning, the Nashville city council is set to me today. They could vote on returning ousted Democrat Justin Jones to the Tennessee House of Representatives. Jones and another black lawmaker were expelled after demanding stronger gun safety measures following the deadly mass shooting at a Nashville school.

In New Jersey, three unions representing about 9,000 Rutgers University faculty and staff are going on strike today after a year of gridlock negotiations. They want pay raises, improved job security and guaranteed funding for graduate students.

And a missing Texas woman has been rescued alive from a sinking car. Her vehicle was nearly completely submerged in a north Texas lake. A fishermen spotted the Jeep and called authorities. The woman is now hospitalized. No word yet on her condition.

Sara.

SIDNER: This morning, the White House is vowing to protect access to a key abortion pill as conflicting rulings by two federal judges are now teeing up a potential Supreme Court showdown.

Here's what's happening.

On Friday, a federal judge in Texas suspended the FDA's longstanding approval of the abortion pill Mifepristone. He paused his ruling for a week for the DOJ to appeal. The FDA, which approved Mifepristone over 20 years ago, has repeatedly said that the medication is safe and reiterated its approval is based on the best available science. The lawsuit, though, claims harmful side effects have been ignored. Right now, medication abortion is banned in 13 states already, but if this ruling stands, access to the drug could be cut off, even in states where it's legal.

This would impact millions of Americans across the United States as it's used in combination with a second drug to terminate pregnancies. Medication abortion accounts for more than half of legal abortions in the United States. Mifepristone is also used to care for women who have miscarriages.

In a conflicting decision that also came out on Friday, a federal judge in Washington state prohibited U.S. authorities from making any changes that would hinder access to Mifepristone in 17 Democratic-led states and Washington, D.C.

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The Department of Justice has filed an appeal to the Texas ruling, but the bottom line here, this has the making to become the Supreme Court's first major post Roe case.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is outside of the White House.

Arlette, what more are you hearing from officials and what they might be planning to do after these two rulings?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, the Biden administration is working through how exactly they can protect access to this medication abortion, but they might be quite limited in what they can do from here at the White House. President Biden has vowed to fight this ruling from that federal judge in Texas every step of the way, and he has warned that it could impact access to medication abortion across the country, but also it could have further repercussions on other drugs that have been approved by the FDA in the past. The HHS secretary, Xavier Becerra, told our colleague, Dana Bash, yesterday, quote, we want the courts to overturn this reckless decision. The Justice Department did move very quickly on Friday night to file an appeal to this ruling, and they are also planning on seeking a stay, trying to put a more permanent pause on this ruling as it winds its way through the courts and very well could make its way ultimately to the Supreme Court. The attorney general, Merrick Garland, saying, quote, the department is committed to protecting Americans access to legal reproductive care.

Now, some of the big questions now are what exactly the White House can do to try to protect access to this medication abortion. There are some Democrats and even a Republican, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, who has said the FDA should simply ignore this ruling, that the courts shouldn't be telling what the FDA they can and cannot approve. The administration, though, initially Becerra yesterday said that every option was on the table, but then a spokesperson walked that back a bit and said that ignoring a court's ruling could set a dangerous precedent.

But right now the White House is trying to work through what more can be done, but for the time being they might simply be watching this appeals process play out in court. That appeal is sitting with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which is considered to be one of the country's most conservative appeals court.

Sara.

SIDNER: It's all very interesting. A lot of people watching and waiting to see what happens there.

Our Arlette Saenz there at the White House.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely.

The conflicting rulings have created even more confusion for health care providers across the country. And CNN's Elizabeth Cohen, she is focused in on that for us right now.

Elizabeth, what are you hearing from -- what are you hearing about how physicians and clinicians are dealing with this?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: They are really having a hard time. They are really worried about the health of their patients, Kate.

And let's take a look -- this sort of references something that Sara said earlier, 53 percent -- actually probably more than 53 percent of abortions in the U.S. are carried out by medication. It's a combination of two pills, including Mifepristone, which is the one that we're talking about today. So that is a lot of women who were getting their miscarriage care, who were getting their abortion care by that drug.

And I was speaking with a lawyer who represents several abortion clinics, and she said she's telling her clients, look, if there is not a change between now and Saturday, starting on Saturday, you just can't give this anymore. So clients -- so these clinics are having to call their patients. They're having to come up with some other options. They're really worried about the health of their patients.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: This drug was approved by the FDA, Elizabeth, more than 20 years ago. So, how could this ruling impact that approval process?

COHEN: It could impact it in a really big way. I mean when we - we sort of heard from Arlette about this a bit that HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, he was speaking with Dana Bash yesterday and he said, look, essentially if a drug company is going to invest millions of dollars into looking into a drug, the FDA, there scientists, their external advisors, all these scientists say it's good to go, and then one guy, one guy who is not a scientist, can say, no, I don't like this drug, let's get rid of it. You can imagine the drug companies might be kind of hesitant to invest those billions of dollars in future life-saving medications. So let's take a listen to what Secretary Becerra said to Dana Bash yesterday.

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XAVIER BECERRA, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: When you turn upside down the entire FDA approval process, you're not talking about just Mifepristone. You're talking about every kind of drug. You're talking about our vaccines. You're talking about insulin. You're talking about the new Alzheimer's drugs that may come on. If a judge decides to substitute his preferences, his personal opinion, for that of scientists and medical professionals, what drug isn't subject to some kind of legal challenge?

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COHEN: And, remember, it's not just abortion drugs that conservatives object to, they also have objected to other drugs.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Elizabeth, thank you so much.

How physicians, how clinicians, how these clinics across the country deal with this is a huge question going forward, and it's not settled.

[09:25:01]

BERMAN: Look, you come from a medical family. This has political implications, but very real implications for doctors right now.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Yes. Absolutely.

BERMAN: Heightened security at New Jersey mosques after an imam is stabbed during morning prayers. What police say the suspect was doing prior to the attack, and how members of the congregation took him down.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott moves to pardon a man convicted of murder just a few days ago. This stems from a killing after a Black Lives Matter protest. New details coming in.

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BOLDUAN: This morning, a prominent Muslim leader is in stable condition and recovering after being stabbed yesterday during an early morning prayer service at a mosque.